


What's My Age Again?

by anna_chronistic



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: ALLEGEDLY, Birthdays, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Javert Lives, Post-Canon, Post-Seine, Sorry Not Sorry, i suck at writing fluff, lots of calendar dates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-05-12 08:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19225579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_chronistic/pseuds/anna_chronistic
Summary: A wealthy baroness who started from the bottom, Cosette Pontmercy fits in very well with high society.  But there is one thing that makes her stand out: Cosette has forgotten her birthday.  She consults three people in her life to try to solve the mystery of when she was born.





	1. 21 August, 1815

In Montreuil-sur-Mer, France, 19-year-old seamstress Fantine was with child. It may have happened earlier in life than she had expected, but she was overall excited to become a mother. Granted, she had some worries about how she would support her child, as she was of a poor background.

"Have you decided what you will name your child?" her friend Favourite asked her.

"Eugene if it's a boy, Euphrasie if it's a girl," Fantine replied.

"You really like the letter e, don't you?" Favourite laughed.

"What? I do not understand," said Fantine.

"Both of those names begin with the letter e," said Favourite.

"I cannot write, Favourite," Fantine explained. "But fortunately Félix can. Maybe he'll eventually teach me and my child how to read and write."

"I'm worried about Félix," Favourite said. "It is not often that rich dandies like him are wed to grisettes like us. I hate to be cynical, but I believe that it is more likely than not that he will eventually leave you and your child all by yourselves. His parents probably have an arranged marriage for him."

"But he loves me," said Fantine. "And I love him. And even if he does leave (God forbid), I will always be there for my child."

~~

Fantine tried her best to worry not about the hypothetical worst-case scenarios regarding her child. She had prayed and asked God to protect her new family. Eventually she was finally able to be totally at peace with her situation.

And on August 21, 1815, Fantine's child was born and was called Euphrasie.


	2. I Can't Remember

**27 July, 1834**

By the mid-1830's, Cosette Pontmercy had it all: money, beauty, a small but loving family. In the few years after getting married, she had become somewhat of a socialite. This day she was attending a debutaunte party. These sorts of events were common among the upper echelon of French society, a group that she fit into quite well.

In addition to being a baroness, Cosette was an avid pianist. The set list she had arranged for the ball included songs by Chopin and Ludwig Van Beethoven, and a few originals that she had written herself. She was fond of using odd time signatures and modulating the key in such a way that one song could sound like three different ones. One older lady, the debutaunte's mother, had taken notice of that.

"I've never seen a songwriter so talented. You're like a prodigy, my dear! May I ask, how old are you?"

That question stumped Cosette. She hadn't before considered her chronological age. When Valjean adopted her, she did not know what month or year it was, nor how much time had passed since she had last seen her mother. She knew that she was an adult, possibly, or at least considered herself one. Cosette considered herself mature and classy, but personality and age do not always match perfectly. She could not say with certainty whether she was a teenager or an adult; she merely _felt_ grown-up. She had no choice but to make up something on the spot.

"Twenty-one?" Cosette said uncertainly.

"Are you asking me that?" the woman was confused.

"No, um, it is my accent. I just always sound like I'm asking a question." Cosette made up a laughably improbable explanation.

"Ah, madame Pontmercy. You've quite the sense of humor," the woman said.

Not knowing exactly when she was born bothered her somewhat, but she knew that overall it was not such a pressing deal. It was not her lack of knowledge regarding her birth that was the problem, but rather the root of her dissociative amnesia. In fact, her whole family had been through some difficult times. Her papa had been battling depression. His condition became so severe that he didn't leave his home for almost a year. Marius had terrible flashbacks of the rebellion that had killed dozens, and Javert had survived a suicide attempt. Meantime, Cosette was wealthy by inheritance and by marriage. Cosette knew she would probably be the envy of most girls her age. If only she knew her actual age!

That was something that she was intent on figuring out.


End file.
